Does GPS use a ton of data?

[Terry S]

Just wondering when I am using my GPS will my data usage go up drastically?

 

[pkulak]

The GPS only downloads a number of kilobytes of satellite position data when it first starts up, then it's done. However, if you're using maps, every tile is an image. I'm not sure how large, but you'll probably see a meg or two of data if you scroll a map around for a couple minutes.

 

[Terry S]

Is there a different button for GPS versus Maps?

 

[lordmaxx]

No, maps is what uses GPS, other programs can use the GPS for information, but if you want GPS info without using data you'll need to find a program that uses GPS with local map data saved to your SD card.

 

[ajerman]

The GPS is the hardware chip inside the phone that communicates with the satellites. Maps is the app that uses the signal the GPS chip receives. The GPS itself doesn't use data for it's communication since it's satellite (other than a little as mentioned). So if you're asking if GPS uses data, no. If you're asking if the Maps app uses data, yes, a fair amount.

There are other things that use the GPS, like speedometers or gps testing tools that use no data, so it's not the GPS that uses data, it's the apps that may need to download map images.